British Expatriate Network

so did I, I'm glad to see my irony wasnt wasted :roll:

Who said there is no humour in Buffalo? :wink:

I was actually more affected than I thought I would be by what happened. I actually spent most of the morning shaking, crying whenever I read anything new on the Internet and phoning/emailing everyone I know to make sure that they were ok. Most - if not all - of the places where the bombs went off were conceivably places where either myself, some of my friends and family could have been - the one at Edgware Road was a stones throw from my former office and I am amazed that no-one from there was caught in it as it's a huge company. I think it's also the recognition things - I've walked past so many of the places, or been through so many of the Tube stations that were affected, that it's not difficult to imagine the blind chaos and panic that must have ensued. While I'm not from London, having spent so much time there I do feel it's my second home and I think that is why I reacted so badly.

A friend of mine was on one of the trains in the carriage behind the one with the bomb on it at Liverpool St/Aldgate. Fortunately she is fine - as is everyone else I know in London - but as you can imagine she's pretty shaken up, particularly by what she has seen. It doesn't help that her picture was plastered over page 2 of the Times the day after.

The thing is, I have no problem whatsoever with my friends or people I know here asking me if everyone I know is ok - most people who know me know I lived in London for 6 years and have many friends and family there. What I object to is when complete strangers approach me and ask me - it's happened to me a couple of times since, someone has overheard my accent (in a shop, bar etc) and has come up to me to ask if I knew anyone who was involved. What business is it of theirs? I understand that in all likelihood they are just concerned but there is a touch of the voyeurism about it as well.

I'm heading back to the UK in three weeks for a holiday, so it will be very interesting to see how different London is, if at all. Of all the people I have spoken to, all of them without exception has expressed the desire for life to carry on and to not let it affect them. No hysteria, no calls for someone's head - just quiet determination. I appreciate that they haven't lost anyone or been personally touched by it to a great extent and I can't imagine what those poor families must be going through, but I do have to say, the reaction has made me proud to be British.

I used to work a lot of times down in Gloucester and thats how they'd pronounce it too, it must be one of them old Avon/Glos things?? :wink:

probably Pat Quinn :wink: